| Original Message |
Anonymous (no login)
Posted Jun 4, 2009 12:58 AM
GM Helmkamp needs to write the articles for the SLU website with a little more pride in program and less "spilt milk". Sounds like he has some hard on toward the St. Louis hockey community. He talks about how abused they've been (see below). Seems to me that they've done pretty well at the D1 and D2 club level no matter where they skated. But I guess if a "beautiful wood locker room" gets you a D2 championship well great, go for it. It hasn't worked for Missouri State. Wood locker room is that like a cedar closet or is it more like a hunting cabin, lol. Again, try to get a journalism major at SLU to write the articles for you Helmie. I do have to hand it to the GM and staff, they have found a way to get the players out to booze on Saturday nights earlier and during the weeks too, classic. Compare it to an NCAA practice schedule, really? Do you know what that kind of schedule looks like and what commitment comes with that? It doesn't include the off ice activities of club hockey teams and a 1:45 pm ice slot during the week for practice in St. Louis only means that they won't put you in better times after 3:00 pm because youth and high school teams start practicing. A practice that early will mean that college students won't be able to take a mid or late afternoon class or they will and just miss practice, that will work. You see in a NCAA D1 program they tend to practice whenever they want to and sometimes two and three a days. Oh yea, one other thing, real hockey teams report an entire schedule of game results not just the games that help them to look good. Report the other 14 losses on top of the 7 you only report. SLU was a .500 team when playing D2 teams. That's OK, just build on it through some hard work and commitment and see what happens. It may be good. All the other hoo-hah in your articles doesn't matter and it sure doesn't make anyone want to rush to the games.
The Billikens are now owners of a beautiful wood locker room during the college season at Webster. In the past, players carried the burden of storing their hockey bag in the limited space of college dorm rooms and apartments. The move will cut travel in half for the players who are used to driving 20-25 minutes each way to Affton. General Manager Darren Helmkamp thinks the move will give the program a boost. "Less travel and our own locker room will give SLU hockey an advantage over most programs when attracting prospective players. Programs like Missouri State who have these luxuries are able to use them to their advantage when convincing players to commit. We now have a place to take pride in and call our true home."
The team practice schedule has changed to look more like an NCAA Varsity program. Past teams were practicing at six in the morning and 10:00pm at night. Next season SLU will practice in the early afternoon at 1:45pm and 2:15pm.
SLU game times are now prime to attract more fans. Friday night home games wills start at 8pm. Saturday games will typically start at 1:45pm. "We've had trouble getting the community excited about our team because no one ever gets to see us play. Friday night games have traditionally started at 10pm, and later. Now we're able to invite youth/high school teams and alumni to the games at reasonable times." said Helmkamp.
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